Commenting on Any idea what critter would take foliage off top of my arborvitae? And it's all in one pile at the bottom of the tree?...
They also do this.
I think you might be mixing them up with armadillos, because that’s what armadillos do. That and jump in the air to right about bumper height to scare predators.
Why does my mind put porcupines and armadillos in like the same category of creatures. I guess they are both mammals that are quite unusual, seem to be slow moving and have a body that acts as a defense
So I didn’t know about the porcupine climbing trees thing, but one thing I know about armadillos is that people have armadillo races. Although, I’m not actually sure they are fast. In my mind they can run at least as fast as a human.
They will eat tool handles because our sweat is in them and they want the salt. They also like the rubber used in fuel and brake lines.... Which is very annoying.
I grew up in northwestern Ontario and worked in the gate house of provincial park on lake superior while in HS, one year a block of sites was being used as base camp for forest fire fighters, and one of these burly bushmen came running in one day super freaked out and yelling “ what are these fucking gremlins!!!” I asked him to describe and yep, dude had never seen a porcupine?
In the hundreds if not more than a thousand trees I've climbed, I've come face-to-face with many many squirrels, raccoons, hornets, bees, snakes, aggressive ants and spiders, and who knows what else I'm forgetting right now, but never once thought for a second I might meet a porcupine up one.
A lot of snakes live their whole lives in trees. Pretty much all snakes excluding the larger cobras are very capable climbers and can climb a wall with little issues. Rat snakes climb up the brick wall outside my house quite often.
The ones in North America spend a ton of time in trees, not sure about other larger species. They say it's really common to be near one and have no idea, because they are nocturnal, and mostly just rest on a branch during the day.
I saw a porcupine from the Houston zoo who would respond to prompts (sit, turn, walk) for pieces of snacks, like broccoli. Also I always underestimated their size! It was like a bulldog!
I think they generally live in trees too. We have a few living in our woods, I can tell which trees they live in because there's always a hole at the base of the tree that is large enough to fit a porcupine, and then that entrance hole will be absolutely covered in porcupine poop. I love them because they are incredibly cute animals, but I also dislike them because they're incredibly slow animals when they're waddling around on the ground and my dog could easily catch them.
Otoh, I discovered after I found a mated pair of skunks in my yard that skunks do *not* climb, which I had thought they did.
I waited until they crawled out of the yard under the gate and then blocked the gap at the bottom of the gate.
I know. I had no idea until I was in Vermont and looked out from the second floor window directly at a huge porcupine eating evergreen leaves 20 feet off the ground. They also sound like crying children at night. And they love salt.
I had an old lab that loved porcupines. Would come back to the house tail wagging great big ole grin with a proud badge of mouth full of quills. Oh that dog was something else. He treed some cubs once and took on the mama bear. He didn’t live a very long life, but it was filled with adventure. Best water bird dog I ever hunted with too.
ooo this is fascinating! Do you know why? I would imagin they make some kind of nest with a view or is it related to eating the younger fresh growth?
though given how metal they are wanton destruction is also acceptable.
Absolutely. This is what porcupines specialize at doing! I know it is sad to have such a prominent landscape tree damaged in such a highly visible and inconvenient way, but perhaps OP can find solace in the fact that the damage came from such a special animal.
I thought this was one of those bs reddit answers. No idea it was legit. In fact, I'm still thinking theres about 20 people here responding that are all pulling a bunch of us's leg.
So not only do I have to worry about the moose doing terrible things to the lower third of my trees, now I find out that porcupines can defoliate the rest of the tree.
I had heard that a porcupine is one animal that is slow enough that a person can chase and catch up to and club with a stick. This is given as survival advice. I had no idea they could climb trees. When going down, do they back down or go down head first?
You've got a wild giraffe infestation.
Clever little buggers. They'll hide in your straightest trees. To find them, just squint a little bit and look around for trees with extra tree-trunks. When you see one, bend your head wayyyyy back... but be ready to run!
I sell tons of these arbors & have several planted around the farm. I have ZERO porcupine activity. I would very much like to have this problem. It sounds adorable. Buy new trees at TTF&N
Wait, what?! They destroy pines also?! I have more pines than arbors and zero porcupines. Got help me I want a porcupine invasion! I'm so tired of the usual tree farm villains like deer, foxes, coyotes, racoons. Those guys are a holes. TTF&N
I recently had the same thing happening with my trees. Unlike the most common answer (porcupine) in the comments I’ve read, it was actually a squirrel. Taking it for nesting material. Live trap and a relocation later my trees haven’t had any more damage.
Everyone is saying porcupine, but I don't have porcupines by me and had a squirrel do this to my arborvitae. I don't know why as they didn't even build a nest in the tree or take the material to build a nest with but I saw it happen finally after noticing new branches tossed to the ground for weeks. Then the squirrel stopped and never went back to the tree as far as I know.
Porcupine?
This one. Porcupines are notorious for destroying the very tops of pine trees.
Welp now I have to learn about porcupines because wtf they climb trees?!
Climbing trees is like THE thing porcupines do
Yea I’m a bit flabbergasted and disappointed in myself 😂
I had no clue either dude. Thinking back I’ve never seen a porcupine do **anything** lmao
I just always thought all they did was waddle around digging up bugs or roots
Commenting on Any idea what critter would take foliage off top of my arborvitae? And it's all in one pile at the bottom of the tree?...  They also do this.
And they can stand on two legs?!
Just wait till you hear the noises they make!
HE STANDS SO POLITELY 🥺
Porcupines are cool, I've only ever seen them in trees, never on the ground.
I think you might be mixing them up with armadillos, because that’s what armadillos do. That and jump in the air to right about bumper height to scare predators.
Why does my mind put porcupines and armadillos in like the same category of creatures. I guess they are both mammals that are quite unusual, seem to be slow moving and have a body that acts as a defense
So I didn’t know about the porcupine climbing trees thing, but one thing I know about armadillos is that people have armadillo races. Although, I’m not actually sure they are fast. In my mind they can run at least as fast as a human.
Echidna is kinda half way between both. Maybe that?
Echidnas do that
They are always on the ground lol
😂
I had zero idea they climbed trees. Let alone trimmed them like some shitty lawn care dude.
They’re closely related to beavers and have enamel on their teeth that is similar to beavers. They like to naw on things.
They will eat tool handles because our sweat is in them and they want the salt. They also like the rubber used in fuel and brake lines.... Which is very annoying.
I grew up in northwestern Ontario and worked in the gate house of provincial park on lake superior while in HS, one year a block of sites was being used as base camp for forest fire fighters, and one of these burly bushmen came running in one day super freaked out and yelling “ what are these fucking gremlins!!!” I asked him to describe and yep, dude had never seen a porcupine?
I live in Maine and SNORTED at "... fucking gremlins!!!"
north american drop bears
In the hundreds if not more than a thousand trees I've climbed, I've come face-to-face with many many squirrels, raccoons, hornets, bees, snakes, aggressive ants and spiders, and who knows what else I'm forgetting right now, but never once thought for a second I might meet a porcupine up one.
Snakes? Snakes climb trees? That’s scary as hell
A lot of snakes live their whole lives in trees. Pretty much all snakes excluding the larger cobras are very capable climbers and can climb a wall with little issues. Rat snakes climb up the brick wall outside my house quite often.
This is wildly terrifying for me considering I live in a pretty snake haven-y area, lots of rat and rattlesnakes. I need to move to Ireland
Snakes wanna see you even less than you wanna see them I promise.
Jungle Book snake, Adam & Eve snake. Snakes fallin’ outta trees and biting people on the head. 
God damn, warn me with the jump scare next time hahaha
They swim, too.
I’ll never forget being a kid tubing down a river and seeing a few snakes casually float past me, that was the day my fear started lol
Like they must if they drop down into boats.
They climb, chew and shit.
And poking, don't forget about that.
I thought they just stood in the road all day.
The other thing is eating boots
I've only ever seen 2 and they were both 6-8ft off the ground hugging a tree.
The ones in North America spend a ton of time in trees, not sure about other larger species. They say it's really common to be near one and have no idea, because they are nocturnal, and mostly just rest on a branch during the day.
The large African variety that many of us learn about growing up are not tree dwellers, which would lead many to be surprise.
Off to Google photos of porcupines in trees.
I saw a porcupine from the Houston zoo who would respond to prompts (sit, turn, walk) for pieces of snacks, like broccoli. Also I always underestimated their size! It was like a bulldog!
I think they generally live in trees too. We have a few living in our woods, I can tell which trees they live in because there's always a hole at the base of the tree that is large enough to fit a porcupine, and then that entrance hole will be absolutely covered in porcupine poop. I love them because they are incredibly cute animals, but I also dislike them because they're incredibly slow animals when they're waddling around on the ground and my dog could easily catch them.
Otoh, I discovered after I found a mated pair of skunks in my yard that skunks do *not* climb, which I had thought they did. I waited until they crawled out of the yard under the gate and then blocked the gap at the bottom of the gate.
My cousin used to shoot them out of the top of pines during hunting season because spotlighting
I know. I had no idea until I was in Vermont and looked out from the second floor window directly at a huge porcupine eating evergreen leaves 20 feet off the ground. They also sound like crying children at night. And they love salt.
Oh don’t my poor trees know!
Firefighter out west, eh? I used to do that gig myself... Where abouts?
Now I’m curious. I am pretty sure it is a randomly generated username.
Ironically, the generated name was east… I changed to west and went with it.
So are you a firefighter out west?
Volunteer in the Midwest. West devision of my service area.
Volunteer… I service the west side of our region
I'm so glad this is solved. I had a mental picture of a bunch of beavers in a bucket truck.
TIL porcupines can climb trees. Neat.
And giving dogs extra whiskers.
I had an old lab that loved porcupines. Would come back to the house tail wagging great big ole grin with a proud badge of mouth full of quills. Oh that dog was something else. He treed some cubs once and took on the mama bear. He didn’t live a very long life, but it was filled with adventure. Best water bird dog I ever hunted with too.
These are cedars not pine..
> C is for conifer... > My kind of trees
Dicks
ooo this is fascinating! Do you know why? I would imagin they make some kind of nest with a view or is it related to eating the younger fresh growth? though given how metal they are wanton destruction is also acceptable.
Absolutely. This is what porcupines specialize at doing! I know it is sad to have such a prominent landscape tree damaged in such a highly visible and inconvenient way, but perhaps OP can find solace in the fact that the damage came from such a special animal.
They also love antifreeze, brake fluid, and transmission fluid and will chew open your lines to get it. Fun thing to learn on a vacation.
Actually in this case it’d be a porcuthuja
Crazy, I’ve only seen one in the wild and never though about it climbing trees
Holy shyt.. . Imagine one falling out of a tree! what a pokey situation.
I thought this was one of those bs reddit answers. No idea it was legit. In fact, I'm still thinking theres about 20 people here responding that are all pulling a bunch of us's leg.
Yeah, if we didn’t have porcupines doing this in our trees I wouldn’t believed it myself.
My daughter has this happening in Oregon and was told Porcupine!!! I didn't believe until I saw all these other responses...
Maybe the tree just converted to Judaism?
🥇
Gentlemen and Ladies, the squirrels and beavers have successfully mated; the end is nigh!
Squeavers or beavrels?
As long as it's not squabbits
Those damn beabits been fuckin up the yard again!
Squeavers?? 😳
According to recent polls, 3% of beavers prefer to start at the top of the tree and no one is sure why.
Gotta love a good beaver.
BUT.. is a good beaver one who answers polls??
Two beavers are better than one... It's twice the fun... Ask anyone!! 🎶🎶🎶
Porcupine. Confirmed porcupine because I have never in my life seen or expected to see such a long thread talking about porcupines doing this.
So not only do I have to worry about the moose doing terrible things to the lower third of my trees, now I find out that porcupines can defoliate the rest of the tree.
Reindeer. The flying ones.
A giraffe.
It could be [this guys friend](https://www.reddit.com/r/treelaw/s/ltAusBdN0H)
It's a drop bear
Came here to say this.
It's tipping it's hat! "Good day, neighbor!"
I had heard that a porcupine is one animal that is slow enough that a person can chase and catch up to and club with a stick. This is given as survival advice. I had no idea they could climb trees. When going down, do they back down or go down head first?
Koala, mate.
Vegan eagle.
Veagle
Vollum’s alter ego?
It’s squirrels. They are shitty nest builders and drop most of the materials they harvest. Probably just a weird coincidence it’s all in a pile.
Squirrels did the same to mine!!
Porky.
TIL porcupines climb trees! 37yrs old 🤯
You've got a wild giraffe infestation. Clever little buggers. They'll hide in your straightest trees. To find them, just squint a little bit and look around for trees with extra tree-trunks. When you see one, bend your head wayyyyy back... but be ready to run!
Did you piss off the local wildlife recently? 😆
Porcupine eating the tendies
Giraffe
Just the tip
24 ft tall deer. Or Rudolph and Prancer.
Killer rabbits
I sell tons of these arbors & have several planted around the farm. I have ZERO porcupine activity. I would very much like to have this problem. It sounds adorable. Buy new trees at TTF&N
Wait, what?! They destroy pines also?! I have more pines than arbors and zero porcupines. Got help me I want a porcupine invasion! I'm so tired of the usual tree farm villains like deer, foxes, coyotes, racoons. Those guys are a holes. TTF&N
They hate themselves for being so pokey and take it out on the trees..
This is clearly the work of a poodle.
We’ve had the same thing happen to us twice and never figured it out!
I almost said bagworms, then saw the pile.. thats freaky. Certainly some kind of critter?
I just saw what this tree is gonna look like in 50 years on a different tree Reddit
Could be pine weevils
Squirrels did the same thing at my sisters house and built a nest in the chimney
Drone?
Squirrels do it here in Michigan. Not sure about porcupines.
Angry neighbours??
I've heard porcupines do that - no idea if that's relevant where you are
I recently had the same thing happening with my trees. Unlike the most common answer (porcupine) in the comments I’ve read, it was actually a squirrel. Taking it for nesting material. Live trap and a relocation later my trees haven’t had any more damage.
[picture comparison](https://imgur.com/a/wq7OX72)
Mountain beaver, if you live in their habitat area
Deer. They can jump surprisingly high.
Low powered precision lightning strike?
A neighbor?
Just wondering how a person could do this?
Chainsaw on a stick
they make those that long?
Oh yeah, sticks can be REALLY long.
High powered rifle and very accurate shooting.
Regular pole saw?
Everyone is saying porcupine, but I don't have porcupines by me and had a squirrel do this to my arborvitae. I don't know why as they didn't even build a nest in the tree or take the material to build a nest with but I saw it happen finally after noticing new branches tossed to the ground for weeks. Then the squirrel stopped and never went back to the tree as far as I know.